A plane towing a banner circled overhead at the Showtime outdoor lunch at the TCA press tour Tuesday with a message for David Nevins, the network president. “SHO fans you care, save The Borgias.”

Nevins, squinting into the sky, told our lunch table that he ran into a single protester outside the Beverly Hilton. When he asked the guy what he thought of the finale, the protester told him he’d never seen the show, he was paid to carry a sign outside the hotel.

Not much of a protest. Nevins chuckled at the idea that he’s risen to a new level of prominence by having his name on a sky banner. And when he asked the table full of critics whether they believed he made the right move in cancelling the show, not a negative word was heard.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.